Viktor Troicki believes in Novak Djokovic

He said “Tennis is really popular. It's one of the most popular sports in Serbia. People love to watch it and love to play it. They've really followed tennis since Novak, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, and also Zimonjic in the doubles, became number one in the world. Novak is absolutely the hero and the best athlete ever of Serbia, so people really love and enjoy tennis”.

Serbia won the Davis Cup title in 2010, backed up by both Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki, who were a part of the roster that year. "Hopefully, there are going to be a few more coming!" Troicki continued. "But now as a captain. Not anymore as a player. When you have Novak (Djokovic) in the team, the chances are pretty high. Now we have (Miomir) Kecmanovic who is playing very well, and there are also (Filip) Krajinovic and (Laslo) Djere. We have a really good team and I think we can go far this year."

Novak Djokovic overcomes Rafael Nadal to become the 3rd-oldest player to be ranked in the top two

Novak Djokovic entered his 367th week of holding the top spot in the ATP rankings and extended his record on Monday. Although he had a difficult start to the season, the Serbian tennis player still occupies the top position after a slight dip in the middle when he was overcome by current world number two, Daniil Medvedev. The Serbian Slam champion has spent the most weeks in that position, overtaking Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Injuries and long pauses did not stop the king of Roland Garros from accelerating his ranking, and his return could further set fire to the smoke left behind by Nole. 

Likewise, the Serbian ranks third on the list of the oldest players in the top two. The position was previously held by Rafael Nadal, who was world number two in May 2021 when he was 34 and 11 months old. Djokovic, on the contrary, was 34 years, 11 months and three days old when the rankings were released on Monday. The world number one will aim to widen the margin in the coming weeks to overcome Roger Federer in the second position. The Swiss became world number two in October 2018, at 37 years and two months.

Rosewell's record challenging to beat

The record is currently held by Australian Ken Rosewall, who occupied the second rank in August 1975, at 40 years and nine months. If we consider the list of oldest players to be ranked No. 1, Djokovic occupies the second place, only behind Federer (36 years and ten months). Rosewell failed to climb to the top of the men's rankings but still set a record that is very difficult to beat. On the other hand, Nadal was world number one for the last time in 2020 at 33 years and seven months.